Relationship & Leadership Coach

You've fixed everything
except the thing that's actually in the way.

You've tried the strategies, the courses, the marketing - in your business and your love life. They didn't fix it because they were never aimed at what's actually in the way. What's been costing you in your work and what's been costing you in love usually come from the same root cause. When that shifts, both move.

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Sarah Rus, Relationship and Leadership Coach, smiling against a colourful Melbourne street-art wall

Ben R. - Business Owner
In his words: "I've phoenixed my business. And I've found my divine love. I never imagined all this would happen."

Does this sound familiar?

You've tried the strategies.
So why isn't it working?

You don't sit on problems. When something isn't working, you go and fix it - you've hired the help, taken the course, run the marketing, tried the apps. So why is the same thing still not moving, in your work or your love life or both? It's not for lack of effort or intelligence. It's that the problem was never on the surface where the strategies were aiming. And there's a reason no one's named it for you yet.

Your career or business isn't reflecting your effort

You're good at what you do - genuinely. You've tried the strategies, maybe hired help, invested in marketing. But something keeps getting in the way of the results you know you're capable of. And you're starting to wonder when things are finally going to give.

You want a relationship - but the right person never seems to show up

Or they do, and it doesn't last. You're not sure if it's bad luck, bad timing, or something else entirely. You just know that what you're doing isn't working, and you're tired of not knowing why.

You've achieved more than most people around you - and somehow it still doesn't feel like enough

You hit the goal. The next one appears immediately. Success feels good for a moment, then the pressure rebuilds. You're starting to wonder if there's a version of you that doesn't need to keep proving something - and what that might actually feel like.

You show up for everyone - and find it genuinely hard to show up for yourself

You're the reliable one. The generous one. The one who makes things easier for the people around you. But when it comes to your own needs, your own growth, your own desires - those quietly come last. And you're not entirely sure when that started.

You've built the career, ticked the boxes - and something still feels hollow

From the outside, life looks like it's working. Good career, capable, respected. But there's a quiet sense of misalignment that's hard to name - like you're performing a version of your life rather than actually living it. The same disconnection shows up in your relationships too. You're not burnt out from failure. You're burnt out from succeeding at things that aren't quite right.

Sarah Rus, Melbourne Relationship and Leadership Coach, smiling in a floral dress by the coast

"I spent over a decade helping others find connection while quietly repeating my own patterns. I finally did the real work - and now I help others do the same."

- Sarah Rus

About Sarah

From Nuclear Medicine to heart-centred coaching - and nearly 60 countries in between.

I graduated as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, then spent years funding worldwide adventures through locum work in Australia and the UK - travelling to nearly 60 countries before I turned 30 - before building two businesses: an events business that brought thousands of singles together across Australia, and later my coaching practice.

The events I designed / created / hosted were full of life - friendships formed, relationships started, people found their person. One marriage I know of, several long-term partnerships, and countless connections that changed people's lives. People loved them. But turning that into a profitable business was a different problem entirely. No matter what I tried - Facebook ads, a 5,000+ email list, different strategies and formats - the profit never followed. Looking back, the real learning wasn't about marketing funnels or conversion rates. It was about me. The same fear of being truly seen that held me back in my relationships was quietly sabotaging my business too. What was blocking me in love and what was blocking me in business originated from the same root cause.

Despite helping countless people find love through my events, I was quietly repeating my own relationship patterns without fully realising it. It took multiple 10-day silent meditation retreats, deep personal development work, and a commitment to finally going inward to understand why - and to change it.

I also know what it feels like to invest heavily and be bitterly disappointed. I once paid US$25,000 for a marketing and sales program that failed to deliver - and the refund was refused. I know the fear, the hesitation, and the courage it takes to trust someone with your time, your money and your growth. That experience shaped the coach I became - and it's why I hold that trust with the seriousness it deserves.

I spent the better part of a decade paying to fix the wrong layer - and I know precisely what those years cost me, in business and in love. That's the part I can help you not repeat.

Now I bring all of that - the lived experience of building businesses, the hard lessons, the inner work, and the certified skills - to the people I coach. Because real transformation doesn't happen where the problem appears on the surface.

Certified Mastery Method Coach - Institute for Coaching Mastery (an ICF-accredited training program)
15+ years working as a healthcare professional
Certified Matchmaker - premium, hand-selected matching
Certified Yoga & Pranayama (Breathwork) Teacher
Founder, Mojo Mingle - events across Australia sparking friendships, relationships & lasting connections
The approach

Real change. Not just insight - real, embodied transformation.

01

Uncover the hidden pattern

We go beneath behaviour to find what's actually driving your results - in business and in relationships. Not through analysis alone, but through work that shifts things at the root cause.

02

Stop the over-giving that's quietly burning you out

The drive to over-give and please - in business and in love - is one of the fastest roads to burnout and emotional distance. We get underneath it, so you can show up fully without running on empty.

03

Embody the leader and partner you're becoming

Insight without embodiment is just an interesting story. We build new patterns of relating - to yourself, to clients, to potential partners - so the change is felt, not just understood.

04

Activate real results in business and love

Inner work produces outer momentum. You show up more boldly in your work, charge what you're worth, and find that genuine connection - in business and in love - starts to come more naturally.

Why this is different

Most approaches work on the surface. This goes deeper.

More strategies won't fix a pattern that lives beneath strategy
Insight alone rarely changes behaviour that's been wired for years
Talking about the problem and shifting the problem are not the same thing
Real change happens when we work at the level where the pattern actually lives
The story that shows what's possible

One example of what happens
when the real work gets done.

Love + business · the same root cause
★★★★★

"Before working with Sarah I had no hope, no direction - my business nearly died and I nearly gave it in. I've phoenixed my business, resurrected it from the dead, to the point where it's like I've actually fallen in love with my business again. [In terms of dating] I went from being the quintessential shooting star to the ultimate divine slow burn. I realised that how other people treat me is a reflection of what's going on in their inner world - not a reflection of my self-worth. I never imagined in a million years that all this would happen."

"I've paid people tens of thousands of dollars - and they didn't have your heart."

Business phoenixed · fell in love with his work again · found his person
BR
Ben R.
Business owner · 1-to-1 client
Where I stand

Three things I've come to believe
after more than a decade guiding people through this.

I used to sell the very things I now tell you won't work on their own - the step-by-step formula, the done-for-you rescue. That's how I know.

01
On the formula
"Step-by-step alone won't do it. Typical group coaching won't either. I tried both - and I sold both."

I didn't just try the formulas - I built and sold them. More than twenty how-to dating programs, plus done-for-you matchmaking and events. And I bought plenty from the other side too. In 2021 I went all in on the dating piece: Adam LoDolce's Love Academy, one-to-one work with Angela Barret using Calling in the One, and Landmark's Sex and Intimacy seminar. And in 2020 I paid US$25,000 for a high-ticket business "speaker" program - all funnels, scripts and selling from stage. Each one gave me something real. None reached the layer where the pattern was actually running - in love, I kept pushing lovely men away before they could push me away first; in business, the strategy never stuck, because the block underneath it never shifted.

What finally shifted it was the Institute for Coaching Mastery - the framework I'd been missing, alongside weekly one-to-one coaching that finally went to the body, the nervous system, and the patterns running below conscious thought. The deeper understanding plus the deeper coaching - both, together, every week. The right work, at the right layer, at the right depth. That's what I do now - in love and in business.

02
On the rescue
"I'm not your hero. I'm your coach."

In my events business, I did the work for people. I planned the meet-cute experiences, curated who walked into the room, gave people their conversation starters, helped them swap contact details at the end of the night. A complete done-for-you product. They loved me for it.. and it kept them dependent.

I'm someone who has a tendency to people-please, so I know exactly how easy it would be to keep doing that - to find your clients for you, do your job-hunting for you, make the call you're nervous to make. But that's the surest way to keep you stuck. Delegate the tasks, by all means - hire the help, outsource what drains you. But the growth itself - the asking, the speaking, the showing up, in your dating life or your business - that part has to be yours.

What I do is help you find the resourcefulness that's already inside you, so you can do it yourself - and not need me, or anyone, to do it for you.

03
On the performance
"Know your worth. You are inherently worthy."

You don't need the texting scripts, the six pack, the latest handbags, the best house on the block, the fancy car, a full head of hair or the fake eyelashes. You don't need to post on social media chasing the latest trend every day, or perform a polished version of yourself online, either. That's all external - and it's maybe 20% of what actually matters.

The real work is finding what's already working in you and enhancing it, while reprogramming the old patterns and clearing what's been getting in the way - so you can confidently show up as yourself. You've been worthy this whole time.

For the business owner and high achiever

You work hard because you care about what you do.
What's it costing you to stay stuck?

Does any of this sound familiar?
  • You procrastinate on the things that would actually move the needle
  • You stay busy - but with tasks that don't result in real progress or income
  • You self-sabotage just as things start to gain momentum
  • You undercharge, over-deliver, and wonder why it's not sustainable
  • You know what you should do - and still don't do it
  • You've invested in courses, coaches and development - and still feel stuck
  • You're exhausted from pushing - and privately wondering if it's even worth it
This isn't a strategy problem. It isn't a productivity problem. It's a pattern - and it lives beneath the surface. The same inner blocks showing up in your work are almost always showing up in your relationships too. That's not a coincidence. That's where the work is.
The real cost of staying stuck
Time
Every month you stay stuck is a month your work isn't reaching the people who need it. Months become years.
Revenue
The gap between what you're earning and what you could be earning - multiplied across every year you delay.
Impact
The people you're meant to serve are out there right now. Staying stuck means they keep waiting.
Connection
The same pattern costing you at work is usually costing you in love too - the right relationship that never quite forms, or the one you let slip because being seen felt too risky. This is the cost almost no one names.
Your why
You didn't get into this to feel this way. The longer the pattern runs, the further you drift from the version of yourself who knew exactly why this mattered.

Put your own number on it. Take what one stuck year costs you - the revenue you didn't earn, the relationship that didn't form - and multiply it by how many years this pattern has already been running. That figure is the real comparison. Not the cost of coaching.

If you've tried the strategies and you're still stuck - the answer isn't another strategy. It's going inward.

Apply for a complimentary consultation
Client stories

Real shifts. Real people.

Real snapshots of what becomes possible when someone finally stops managing the surface and goes inward. Some clients are named with permission; others have been anonymised to protect their privacy.

Relationship Coaching · Anonymous

From Avoidance to Clarity in a Long-Term Relationship

She was 90% ready to leave... until something shifted in a single conversation.

90% ready to leave → genuinely hopeful
Read full story
Leadership & Life Renewal · Anonymous

From Burned Out to a Totally Different Vibe

A colleague hadn't seen him in a year. He barely recognised him.

Burned out → renewed, taking risks again
Read full story
Leadership & Business · Madalyn Moses

From Meaningful Work to a Grounded, Confident Business

"She's never tried to make me into someone else - she helped me strengthen what was already there."

3 workshops delivered · confident leadership
Read full story
Business Leadership · Anonymous

From Overthinking & Perfectionism to Decisive Leadership

She had vision, capability, and real opportunities. What she didn't have was the confidence to move forward without everything being perfect first.

Hesitation → grounded, self-led execution
Read full story
Dating & Confidence · Anonymous

From Avoidance & Frustration to Confidence, Action & Connection

A single man, tired of dating apps and holding himself back, kept waiting for the right person to appear. He learned to create the opportunities instead - and the connection followed.

Avoidant & frustrated → genuinely excited about someone
Read full story
Emotional Resilience & Leadership · Anonymous

From Reactivity & Self-Doubt to Grounded Leadership Under Pressure

After being triggered in a key professional relationship, she found herself questioning everything. She chose to work through it directly - and her leadership changed.

Reactivity → self-trusting leadership
Read full story
Business · Anonymous

From Stuck to Record Revenue

A business owner arrived exhausted and relentlessly hard on themselves, at a standstill in their work. By the final session, things had shifted well beyond what they'd imagined.

Stuck & stalled → record five-figure month
Read full story
Embodied Leadership · Anonymous

From Burnout & Disconnection to Energised, Embodied Leadership

She was pushing hard to grow her business but felt disconnected from her body, energy, and environment. The issue wasn't strategy - it was capacity.

Burnout → sustainable momentum
Read full story
Somatic & Emotional Work · Anonymous

From Emotional Overwhelm to Inner Safety

She was navigating intense emotions she didn't know how to process - and had spent years trying to run from them. Through somatic and emotional work, she built the inner safety to actually feel what was happening, move through it, and come out the other side.

All over the shop → balanced, centred, equipped
Read full story

What clients say

In their words
Business · visibility
★★★★★

"I'd been procrastinating for months - filming a video felt completely overwhelming. In less than an hour Sarah helped me plan the script, feel comfortable on camera, and upload it. She helped me feel confident and authentic sharing my message."

First video: 50+ likes, 7 shares - her best response yet
BW
Bec Wright
Business owner & author
Dating · Post-divorce
★★★★★

"I honestly thought I didn't need coaching. But working with Sarah completely changed the way I understood dating, relationships, and even myself. The biggest change has been learning to open my heart again - to actually feel, not just think. Not bad for a tradie! Now, dating feels exciting, natural, and fun. Something I want to do, not something I have to do."

Women now reach out to him first
GD
Greg D.
Back to dating after divorce
Business · direction
★★★★★

"She has a great way of helping you see what's actually getting in your way, without it feeling heavy or overwhelming. I walked away with practical steps and a much stronger sense of trust in myself and my direction."

VM
Vanessa M.
Business owner
Inner work · resilience
★★★★★

"I now have a toolbox of practices I can use whenever things feel big or uncertain. I feel more balanced, grounded and centred than I have in years. The progress I made was so much faster - and more enjoyable - than trying to do it all on my own."

AH
Alarna H.
Business owner & single parent
Life direction · Transition
★★★★★

"Before coaching with Sarah, I felt stuck - unsure about work, location, and my next steps. Together we worked through self-doubt and 'what-ifs', helping me build confidence and take a leap of faith. Now I'm moving countries, interviewing for jobs, and feeling aligned with my path forward."

RH
Rebecca H.
Business owner & Coach
Clarity · Life direction
★★★★★

"My clarity call with Sarah was truly eye-opening. Her first question - 'How can I serve you?' - showed the session was genuinely about helping me, with no pressure. By the end I'd identified a few important areas of my life that need more attention. In just one hour, I noticed a real shift in my thinking."

BH
Bhawna
Clarity call
The experience of working together
★★★★★

"She creates connection with such empathy and presence that I can immediately let my guard down and be fully myself. She weaves in a gentle playfulness that brings lightness to even the deepest work - growth can feel expansive, not heavy. I feel held and invited, never pushed, while she challenges me to find clarity I didn't even know was there."

CJ
Charlotte J.
Coach & Business Owner
Business · ongoing work
★★★★★

"Every time I hop on the call, I think - is this really going to help? And every time it's exactly the right thing and reminds me of what I'm trying to do. You have played a very large part in getting to this point."

VD
Virginia D.
Business owner
Understanding the difference

Coaching, not therapy.

A quick note for anyone weighing the two up. We can talk it through properly on your consultation call, but here's the short version.

Coaching with Sarah

Forward-focused work for capable, high-functioning people - shifting the pattern at the root cause, across business, leadership and relationships, with real accountability and follow-through. Generally tax deductible for Australian business owners.

Therapy / counselling

Past and problem-focused, led by a licensed clinician - for treating mental health conditions, trauma or addiction, and may involve diagnosis or treatment. A different purpose and scope to coaching.

Coaching is not therapy, treatment or healing. If you're experiencing mental health challenges that need clinical support, please speak with your GP or a registered professional first - coaching and therapy can work well alongside each other.

Adapted from the Institute for Coaching Mastery (ICM).

Work with me

Three ways in.
One is right for where you are now.

Whether the group program or working one-to-one is the better fit isn't something to guess at from a page. We work it out together on a complimentary 20-minute consultation call, by application. No pressure - a direct conversation about where you are and whether this is right for you.

Free - Ongoing

Good Conversation Club (GCC)

Good Conversation Club members smiling together at a free Melbourne community event

A MeetUp-based community for connection, fun and good conversation. Think of it as a personal lab - a chance to experiment and notice what comes up when you meet new people. Do you hold back? Feel out of your comfort zone? That awareness is where the real work begins. Workshops also available for those ready to go a little deeper.

  • Free in-person & online events
  • Connect with like-minded people
  • No pressure - just real connection
  • In-person events in Melbourne, Australia
  • Online events open to a worldwide audience
Find upcoming events on MeetUp
Program for Singles - 12 Weeks

Relationship Activation Program (RAP)

A 12-week journey for singles ready to do the real work on themselves - so they can show up in dating and relationships as their fullest, most grounded self. For those who play full-out, the intention is clear: feel genuinely confident, meet aligned partners you're excited about, and stop being held back by the fears and patterns that have kept love just out of reach.

  • 10 live group-style coaching calls + 2 integration weeks
  • Build genuine confidence from the inside out
  • Meet aligned partners you're genuinely excited about
  • Release the fears & patterns holding love back
  • Optional WhatsApp support group for accountability
  • Online - available worldwide
Upcoming cohorts 8 March - 24 May 2027
7 June - 23 August 2027
Satisfaction guarantee. Learn more in the FAQs
Find out more

Investment discussed on your complimentary consultation call. Pay in full or payment plan options available.

Free 90-minute online workshop

Why Dating Isn't Working - And What To Do Instead

For singles who've tried the strategies and are ready to understand what's actually in the way. Available worldwide.

Save your spot - it's free
90-minute online workshop

Meet the Patterns Running Your Love Life

You've been here before - the same kind of person you reach for, the same moment you pull back, the same spark that fades right on cue. None of it is random, and none of it means you're bad at this. In one gentle guided exercise, we bring your pattern into the light together - so you can start choosing differently instead of running the same script again. For singles and people in relationships. Available worldwide.

Save your spot
Common questions

What you might be wondering.

No. Business owners make up a good portion of my clients, but this work is just as relevant for high-achieving professionals in any field - doctors, lawyers, engineers, executives, consultants, financial advisers, and many others. You don't need to run a business to feel the gap between how well things look on paper and how they actually feel. If that gap is real for you, the work is for you.

People who are high-functioning but not fully expressed. You can handle a lot - you're used to delivering, solving, and showing up for others. But there's a version of you that's been quietly waiting: more grounded, more open, more genuinely connected to your work and the people in your life. This coaching is for someone ready to stop managing the surface and actually go there.

Almost certainly. This work goes to every level - emotions, thoughts, the nervous system, behaviour, and the deeper patterns most approaches never reach. Many clients with years of therapy or coaching behind them find this to be the missing piece. If you've done the surface work and something still isn't shifting, that's usually the signal.

Often, yes. In many cases, what's blocking someone in their business and what's blocking them in love turn out to have the same source - the same patterns, the same beliefs, the same fears showing up in different contexts. When that shifts, both areas tend to move. Ben R.'s story is a clear example: he came in focused on his business, rebuilt it from near-collapse, and found love alongside it. Neither was chased directly. Both arrived because something deeper changed. That said, every person is different - and the work always follows what's most alive for you.

The investment is discussed one-to-one on your complimentary consultation call and isn't listed publicly. What I can tell you is this: compared to the cost of divorce, another year in the wrong relationship, or one more year of business moving in the wrong direction - it's a fraction of any of them. And unlike those costs, this is an investment in personal growth - and what tends to happen is you do the work in this area of life and see the transformation ripple out to other areas too. Pay in full and payment plan options are both available. For Australian business owners, sole traders and contractors, coaching is generally tax deductible - check with your accountant.

The rhythm is always the same - a call once a week for three weeks, then an integration week to let the work land - finishing with a check-in and review call (the 10th call). We focus on one goal at a time, which might be reached sooner or later - everyone's different. The 3-month suits people working toward one main goal. The 6-month is for those with more goals, or deeper patterns holding them back, where more coaching is needed to really shift things. Which one's right for you is something we work out together on the consultation call - and either way, you'll have regular calls, WhatsApp, email access and personalised resources throughout.

Yes - a satisfaction guarantee applies to both coaching containers. What I stand behind is the depth and quality of the coaching itself. If you show up fully - present, committed, willing to do the work between sessions - and you're genuinely not satisfied with the quality of the coaching, I'll make it right. What happens inside you as a result of that work is yours. The coaching is my responsibility. The willingness to do the work is yours.

No. Coaching is not therapy, treatment or healing. Therapy treats mental health conditions and is led by licensed clinicians. Coaching works with capable, high-functioning people who want to shift a specific pattern and create meaningful change. The work I do is thorough and goes deep - but it is coaching. If you're experiencing clinical mental health challenges, please speak with your GP first.

All sessions are online via video call. I work with clients across Australia and internationally. Time zones are worked out on the consultation call.

If you're a business owner, sole trader or contractor, coaching that supports your professional growth and business performance is generally tax deductible in Australia. That means investing in yourself and your business at the same time - and getting a tax benefit for it. Always check with your accountant, but for most business owners this is a straightforward deduction.

A 20-minute call, by application. No obligation and no pressure - just a direct conversation about where you are, what you're working on, and whether there's a genuine fit. If there is, I'll share what working together could look like. If there isn't, I'll say so. You apply below and I'll be in touch to schedule.

Something worth considering

Most people spend tens of thousands on the wedding. Almost nothing on becoming someone who can sustain the marriage.

Average engagement ring - Australia 2026 (Easy Weddings) $6,842
Average wedding - Australia 2026 (Easy Weddings) $38,252
Estimated cost of divorce - Australia 2025 (various legal sources) $10k - $100k+
Second marriages that reportedly end in divorce - the patterns that ended the first tend to follow us into the next, unless something changes (ABS) ~60%
Potential combined spend if those patterns repeat across two marriages and divorces $55k - $290k+
Investment in doing the inner work first - and becoming someone who creates something that lasts Discussed 1-to-1

Sources: Easy Weddings 2026 Annual Survey · Australian Bureau of Statistics, Marriages and Divorces Australia 2024 · Shanahan Family Law 2026 · Law in Check 2025. Figures are indicative averages and estimates - individual circumstances vary significantly.

None of this is meant to alarm you. It's simply worth seeing clearly. Most people invest heavily in the wedding and almost nothing in becoming someone who can sustain the marriage - and the patterns that quietly run the show don't change on their own.

The investment in working together is discussed on your complimentary consultation call. It depends on what you're working on and which program is the right fit.

The real fear isn't the statistics. It's repeating the same pattern - choosing the wrong person again, or letting the right one go because vulnerability felt too risky. Most people don't fear being alone. They fear waking up years from now in the same place, having never found out what was actually in the way.

The real question isn't whether you can afford to invest in this work. It's what it costs to keep going without it.

Sarah Rus, Relationship and Leadership Coach, laughing against a blue street-art wall
Apply to work together

The pattern won't change on its own.
The cost of waiting will.

Apply for a complimentary 20-minute consultation call. No pressure - a direct conversation about where you are, where you want to be, and whether we're a fit. Applying takes two minutes.

Apply for a complimentary consultation call